thirdexaltfandomcom-20200213-history
Hrotsvitha
THE SPAWNING FOREST DEMON OF THE THIRD CIRCLE, NINTH SOUL OF ISIDOROS Hrotsvitha is a forest of brass desire. It is the soul that represents the Black Boar’s lust and primal instincts. Hrotsvitha appears as a vast sprawling forest with trees of brass that often lurch and thrust in strange patterns. The brass branches and trunks stretch and strain when this occurs, filling the air with metallic moans and rasps. The air is hot, sticky and carries the coppery smell of blood even when no living thing can be seen. Behemoths and other powerful creatures are common sights here. Most are spawned from Hrotsvitha’s couplings with various creatures. In addition to these creatures, Demon-Blooded children who have found their way into Malfeas play huntsman alongside the Spawning Forest’s demons. All who come to the forest feel a mix of arousal and violent urges. These urges begin with strange moods and faint whispers in the mind but grow as one remains in the Spawning Forest. These feelings are a result of Hrotsvitha itself, whose lust and love of the kill are everywhere. The entire forest is full of life and twisted fertility. Hrotsvitha can overpower most visitors with these feelings if he wishes, but he usually simply lets the idea creep into their heads as they move among his trees and drink from his lakes. Staying too long inside Hrotsvitha drives most mortals mad. The Chosen fair little better in this regard, as the nature of Hrotsvitha’s madness plays on the Great Curse like a harpist playing his instrument. Hrotsvitha is a popular spot with many residents of Malfeas. Female demons often come to couple with the trees so that they might give birth to new tree-houses and spread the forest (see p. 25), while demons of both sexes come to rut and play. Slaves and prisoners taken by Hrotsvitha’s demons are brought here to be hunted. Those who escape capture for five days and nights, the exact time of Calibration, are freed. Those captured are used in all ways the hunters desire and then ritually slain. Their blood is painted on the trees as an offering to Hrotsvitha. During Calibration itself, a great hunt is held. Hrotsvitha’s Indulgent soul, the demon Mauger, oversees this festival. Isidoros himself sometimes comes here when he ventures beyond Szoreny. Since the Black Boar That Twists the Skies must lessen his form somewhat to enter that which is merely a part of himself, this is a fairly rare occurrence. Still, the forest contains many hoofshaped lakes and craters from these visits. Hrotsvitha bears these marks with pride and fills them with sweet liquors that act as hallucinogen and aphrodisiac. When not in his forest form, Hrotsvitha often appears as a half-naked man with eyes of brass and brass horns jutting from the sides of his head. He wears a loincloth of human skin and a headdress of human hair. His flesh is painted with the blood of the victims of many hunts, and he exudes a musky but not unpleasant scent. In battle, he strikes powerful blows with a great club made from the bones of a long-dead behemoth and can cause everyone around him to go mad with desire for sex and murder. The Spawning Forest is rarely called to Creation, as most demonologists know little of his exact nature. When he is summoned, it is usually to assist and advise in matters of tracking, hunting, murder and procreation. He can bless unions and matings, causing even unlikely pairings to bear offspring. Children conceived in this way always carry a hint of Hrotsvitha’s madness, however.